Antis, pet-rescue politics and YOU

I love writing about hunting for an audience that's friendly to hunting. But sometimes I go a little crazy and dip my toes in unfriendly waters, and it is always rough swimming.

Such was the case last week - but I think it was worth it. While I won't ask you to follow me into the water, I do hope you'll consider going where this particular journey took me.

The topic was the controversy last month over a chain store called Meijer agreeing to donate $1 to the Humane Society for every entry into its online pet photo contest, up to $5,000 total. The money would go into an HSUS fund set up to help rescue pets abandoned in foreclosed homes.

It's an excellent cause. But hunters - led by the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance - wanted nothing to do with a store they shop at funding an organization that opposes all but subsistence hunting, and fights perfectly legitimate and ethical hunting practices, such as dove hunting. The principle is simple: If you support my enemy, you are not my friend.

USSA called on Meijer to end the program, and after hunters followed suit with letters, blogs and phone calls, Meijer bailed. I saluted the victory and urged hunters to support USSA or any hunting organization that fights for our rights, because it's not often we win battles against the Humane Society's well-funded marketing machine.

In retrospect, though, the win was painfully short-lived. The Humane Society, whose PR tactics bear remarkable resemblance to political campaigns in virtually every respect, turned this into yet another opportunity to make hunters look like animal haters. It now claims to have raised ten times as much as Meijer was going to donate from people who were outraged by USSA's pressure on the chain.

Now, I wouldn't comment on a Humane Society or PETA blog if my life depended on it - it's like trying to talk reason in a schizophrenia ward. (I've actually tried reasoning with an untreated schizophrenic, back when I was a young reporter covering homelessness and mental health issues. It doesn't work.) But I stumbled across a post in a dog lover's blog about the issue, and I decided to jump into the comments section and try to explain why hunters loathe the Humane Society. I immediately fell under a hail of talking points straight off of HSUS's website. (Click here if you feel like being irritated by every detail.)

There were a couple commenters who seemed to be sincere about the issue, articulating original thoughts, so I tried to work with them. One women named Judy kept saying, over and over, this is not hunting vs. anti-hunting; it's about pet rescue.

While I disagree on the first part, I agree pet rescue is important, and hunters could make no better statement than to support that cause. I asked for a list of organizations that support rescuing pets that have been abandoned in foreclosed houses so I could post it here on this blog. And while I didn't get a list, Judy piped in with this advice: Call your local shelters. Donate. Volunteer. If there isn't a program for foreclosure pets, help start one.

I'd already spent $50 to join USSA and make a statement in support of hunting rights; now it was time to make a statement in support of abandoned pets. The only question was who would get my money?

The answer came so easily. I was walking into my neighborhood Petco today to restock our supply of kitty litter when I saw the sign out front: Cat Adoptions Today.

I LOVE cats.

I made a beeline to the adoption corner and started feeling that maternal tug that made me want to adopt them all. Boyfriend would kill me. We already have a 12-year-old Russian blue named Paka and a calico kitten named Giblet from the neighbors' breeding colony - she's the one pictured above. We couldn't possibly handle another cat. Paka would probably barf hairballs on my pillow every day in protest.

So I talked to the woman at the table about her program. "Do you rescue pets abandoned in foreclosed homes?" I asked.

"A few," she said. "We rescue them from all over. Some people who've adopted have had to give them back because of foreclosures."

But there is another problem stemming from the economy that's potentially even worse than foreclosure abandonments: Adoptions are down. But the number of cats needing rescue isn't.

"How do you get your funding?" I asked.

"Adoptions. Donations. Some vets donate services," she said.

"Do any organizations like the Humane Society help you?" I asked.

"Oh, no," she said.

"Can I write you a check?"

"Yes!" she said.

I didn't bring up hunting as I wrote a check for $50. Honestly, I couldn't care less what she thinks of it. All I care about is that her organization is doing the work of the angels, and it isn't doing it to maintain a facade of animal rescue to fund a campaign against hunting.

If you're from NorCal and you would like to support a local group, this operation is called Fluff Buddies. Click here for information.

If you're from somewhere else, it's not hard to find a local shelter or adoption program that isn't an arm of the Humane Society, because the HSUS does precious little work in this area compared with its massive PR campaigns. And if you're not sure where various animal organizations stand on hunting, the National Shooting Sports Foundation has an excellent guide that describes 26 animal or wildlife organizations' positions. Click here for a PDF of that guide.

Will this gesture effectively combat the Humane Society's routine slander of hunters? I doubt it. Small contributions to local groups scattered all over the country or world can't match a multimillion-dollar smear campaign.

But will it put money behind what you already know about yourself, that being a hunter does not make you an animal hater? Yes, it will.

© Holly A. Heyser 2008